The core Financial Snapshot has a total of six categories to evaluate. We reviewed what it would look like if you were to be consistent across all categories, but this scenario will not work for most of society. You may be further on in one category while lagging in another. In order to determine where you are at, looking at each category specifically based on your level of current proficiency will help reveal which needs the most focus. Moving from income to focusing on expenses, you’ll be able to pull this from your Plan to Spend or Budget as well. This will be the third step in the process. Finding out whether you spend more than you make will be one of the key components that will ensure that whether you are paid according to the market or not overextending yourself.

The core Financial Snapshot has a total of six categories to evaluate. We reviewed what it would look like if you were to be consistent across all categories, but this scenario will not work for most of society. You may be further on in one category while lagging in another. In order to determine where you are at, looking at each category specifically based on your level of current proficiency will help reveal which needs the most focus. Reviewing the income portion of your Plan to Spend or Budget will be the second step in the process. Finding out how your income measures up compared to the industry will then help you determine whether you are maximizing your value to the marketplace.

The core Financial Snapshot has a total of six categories to evaluate. We reviewed what it would look like if you were to be consistent across all categories, but this scenario will not work for most of society. You may be further on in one category while lagging in another. In order to determine where you are at, looking at each category specifically based on your level of current proficiency will help reveal which needs the most focus. Reviewing the income portion of your Plan to Spend or Budget will be the second step in the process. Finding out how your income measures up compared to the industry will then help you determine whether you are maximizing your value to the marketplace.

The core Financial Snapshot has a total of six categories to evaluate. We reviewed what it would look like if you were to be consistent across all categories, but this scenario will not work for most of society. You may be further on in one category while lagging in another. In order to determine where you are at, looking at each category specifically based on your level of current proficiency will help reveal which needs the most focus. Getting a grip on the level that you operate by a Plan to Spend or budget will be the first step in the process.

Using a matrix to get a snapshot allows you to measure your progress over time. This matrix is based on 6 columns from excellent to insufficient and 6 rows from a Plan to Spend on through retirement contributions. Being able to identify these components will enable you to expedite a solution to improving your finances.

A financial snapshot provides a brief indicator of what needs to be focused on in improving your personal finances. Being that personal finances are personal, being able to identify what uniquely impacts your situation is key. Being able to see where you are in relation to where you want to be will allow you to align this focus to the steps taking you toward your goals. Working to pinpoint issues and make the appropriate adjustments will ensure you don’t have to back peddle to repair them.

Net worth is a financial indicator of your monetary standing at a given point in time. Looking at assets and liabilities to then derive your net worth will give you an indicator to track. Tracking your net worth will allow you to steadily monitor whether you are increasing the spread between what you own and what you owe.

Most everyone has assets and liabilities that they need to consider within managing their personal finances. However, most have never spent the time to really look at what assets they have related to what liabilities they have. Looking at a list of both assets and offsetting liabilities will enable you to not only understand what you own vs. what you owe, but also have more of an awareness around your financial priorities when it comes to allocating your income to pay down and off debt.

Giving in a season where there is so much uncertainty may be the last thing on your mind however, just simply making the decision to give back in-spite of that will give you an ability to support a cause bigger than yourself. Enabling the focus to be redirected from you, to those who are in need. We have seemingly lost the ability to be constructively and intentionally involved in our neighborhoods and communities, but ensuring that you apply both time and resources from your Plan to Spend will ensure that you are making that positive impact that so many are opting-out from.

The zero-based budgeting approach ensures that your money is fully-allocated out to all of the categories you utilize. This being considered the ‘best’ approach ensures that you are fully intentional with where your money goes, so that it is easier to identify waste and be able to make the changes necessary to ensure that your life energy is spent only on those purchases that add the most value to you.